Helskorn
Unbreakable. Incorruptible. Unyielding. |race= Forsaken |gender= Male |age= 39 |height= 7'11" |weight= 650lbs |alignment= Lawful Evil |alias=*Sarge *Sir |residence= Undercity |birthplace= Lordaeron |guild= Royal Apothecary Society |faction= Horde |class= Warrior }} Helskorn currently serves as a Blight Sergeant of the Royal Apothecary Society, as denoted by the cross icon engraved into the plate gorget around his neck. Helskorn's present station is with Branch 27-B, although he was deployed to Stormheim aboard the Black Rose as a Dreadguard of the Forsaken invasion fleet, and first served the Forsaken as a Deathguard in the Invasion of Gilneas before climbing the ranks. __TOC__ Physical Description A very large Forsaken, Helskorn is far above the average size of his peers. Standing a height of seven feet, eleven inches, he's much closer to the size of an Orc than that of an Undead. His flesh and sinew look quite akin to jerky, having been rotted and restored a hundred times over, yet he still moves and fights as if he was very much alive. His strength and reaction times are astounding, especially for his size, a result of training relentlessly each and every day, both before death, and afterwards. He has somewhat poor eyesight beyond a few hundred metres, with clear claw-scars around his eyes, and has a lower jaw created from Ghost Iron. Helskorn's expression is one of constant agony and undying rage, typically masked by a very thick plate helmet, matching a full set of blue "Onslaught" pattern plate armor, made famous by the Forsaken war hero of the same name. A Forsaken tunic covers his chest plate, and the symbol engraved into the thick plate gorget denotes his rank as a Blight Sergeant. Underneath the plate is a set of fitted chainmail and a deep blue canvas jacket. Helskorn is almost always found with his war-axe, a rather large and brutal weapon made from Arcanite. The head of the axe is fashioned into the shape of a skull. The mouth burns with witchfire, an enchantment from a particularly skilled Apothecary, which upon activation, allows the next strike to cause a conical shockwave powerful enough to knock most human-sized opponents to the floor. The hilt of the weapon is often chained to Helskorn's wrist. Personality Helskorn is a brutal warrior with few vices left to him but the thrill of battle and the burden of duty. With no recollection of his life, nothing else to do, and no-where else to go, he followed the orders of the Forsaken who raised him from death, discovering more about his new unlife. He voluntarily joined the Forsaken efforts in Gilneas as a means to satisfy the anger he felt at his current state of existence, and in serving in the Dark Lady's armed forces, he learned of the Forsaken culture, and witnessed the Dark Lady in battle at other times. He looks up to his Queen above all others, to an almost deific degree, as a direct result. His duty to Her defines his very being, however he suffers a condition that perpetually causes him agony and stimulates fight-or-flight, resulting in him always being angry and ready to fight. As a result, he trains every minute of downtime he has to help manage this condition. History Life and Death Helskorn was once a man named Roland Farwall, a mercenary and swordsman, bound to no company or army. His past was one of many great hardships, beginning as a discarded orphan, begging and stealing for scraps of food just to survive. This past, which was willingly suppressed and forgotten in his later years, resulted in a nasty, selfish man, to whom all that mattered was the present and future. He worked with numerous mercenary companies in his time, remaining with none for too long, and had trained and dieted for years to get his body to the giant mass of muscle and strength he was upon his death. Paid a large sum to guard a merchant of baubles and trinkets as he traveled Lordaeron, he found himself tying up a bandit ambush as the caravan trader fled. Singlehandedly fighting the group of attackers, he met his doom, though he fell many in the process. He was buried amongst countless others in Deathknell, and was there resurrected, his corpse was brought back to the realm of the living at the hands of the Val'kyr with no memory of his past life, save for one detail. He lived for the fight. Early Undeath The being that eventually came to be known as Helskorn wandered Lordaeron for some time, witnessing how it had changed since his death well before the Scourge invasion. So much had changed, and yet, so little was different. Arriving at the capital, he then enlisted in the ranks of the Forsaken Military, becoming a Deathguard. For some time he served, involving himself in the Gilneas campaign. During his time amongst the Forsaken forces there, he was both heavily exposed to Forsaken who deified Sylvanas, and had plenty of opportunity to witness the Dark Lady Herself in action against the Worgen threat. It was not long before his beliefs began to align quite closely with that of the Cult of Forgotten Shadow, albeit he held loyalty to his Queen above all else. He became close friends with a Deathguard named Morghast, who aspired to one day become a Deathstalker. Gilnean Frontlines He fought valiantly on the front, responsible for the slaughter of tens of dozens of both humans and Worgen. Eventually his prowess made a target of himself, and a group of Worgen Assassins pounced from the shadows in an attempt to eviscerate him. Narrowly avoiding death through virtue of Morghast's sacrifice, his eyes were nonetheless damaged severely, and his lower jaw smashed off. The apothecaries did all they could, but he was no longer fit to fight at the front, despite his veterancy, and he was pulled back, serving instead with the siege equipment and handling Blight canisters until he recovered properly. Even so, Helskorn vowed he would avenge Morghast and honour his name through the shedding of Worgen blood wherever possible. He had witnessed from afar, the treasonous acts of Lord Godfrey, and felt the last of his undead heart break as his Queen perished. It was swiftly restored with anger as Godfrey managed to escape, despite the mass of Forsaken armed forces present. Helskorn suffers not a traitor to live as a direct result of this experience, despite his Queen's subsequent resurrection. The Royal Apothecary Society After the war, he spent his time as one of the Deathguard patrolling Brill. He continued serving the Forsaken military in this role until one day, as word of the return of the Burning Legion was spreading through the world's capital cities, he was approached by a member of the Royal Apothecary Society, with a proposition to become a Blightguard of Branch 27-B - A branch of misfits and rejects who require extra supervision and guidance. Since that day, he has served the Royal Apothecary Society with his all, despite his annoyance at his peers and subordinates. In recognition of his service he was promoted to the rank of Blight Sergeant and in doing so undertook the responsibility of training and evaluating the Blightguard. The Broken Isles Helskorn was deployed to the Broken Isles aboard The Black Rose, one of the vessels within the Windrunner Fleet which arrived at the Cove of Nashal. His experience with the Royal Apothecary Society made him a great asset, and he was granted the rank of Dreadguard. However, the fleet was ambushed by the Skyfire, and the Black Rose was subsequently engaged and destroyed in conflict with the Alliance. It was during this conflict which Helskorn suffered an impact wound from a stray cannonball as it tore through the ship. Barely noticing it at the last moment, he brought his gigantic arcanite greatsword up in a guard, but the force of its impact was too great; the blade shattered and the force of the blow slammed into Helskorn's breastplate, crushing his ribcage, heart and lungs. It was only by virtue of his quick reflexes that he did not perish instantly, the blade's destruction mitigating the cannonball's force just enough to keep him alive, albeit in a critical state. He would surely have died in the aftermath, however, were it not for the assistance of a mad Forsaken surgeon by the name of Elmerney Fuddler. The surgeon quickly operated on Helskorn without anaesthetic or care for his agony, fusing his ribcage into a singular plate of shadow-infused bone, without Helskorn's permission, in the process of the fleshcrafting and shadow-mending that saved his unlife. Helskorn went on to fight the Burning Legion and the Alliance alike armed with a shield and greatsword, which to a man of his size acted more akin to a longsword. He fulfilled his role of Dreadguard to the fullest, and as the war continued, Helskorn was tasked by Nathanos Blightcaller himself to hunt down and execute the will of the Dark Lady upon a small cult of traitorous undead warlocks who had sided with the Burning Legion and sabotaged the Forsaken's war efforts. For seven nights and seven days he hunted the members of the cult before ambushing their leader and his guards and felling them in a flurry of blows. He took the head of the traitor's leader and later delivered it as a warning to Thaddeus Seenwood of Branch 27-B upon learning of the Grand Apothecary's singular act of minor treason and subsequent reconditioning at the hands of the Royal Apothecary Society's Ethics and Compliance divison. Present Activity Since his return to Lordaeron and his duties with Branch 27-B, the Blight Sergeant forged himself a new weapon; a war-axe made of the finest Arcanite, and enchanted with great destructive force. His time in the Isles has taught him to never lose track of his weapon, and it was here that he began the habit of chaining his primary weapon to his wrist. He has since been burdened with many of the greater responsibilities of a Blight Captain, without any of the authority that comes with such a title. This was initially due to the absence of the Captain at the time, but has continued on since due to delegation on the part of both subsequent Acting Blight Captains who have been deployed from the Ethics and Compliance division of the Society. Helskorn continues to serve the Royal Apothecary Society, and has enforced a stricter training regimen upon the Blightguard in preparation for any potential future conflicts through the introduction of the Blightgames; training events in which to develop a large number of skillsets, including tactical and strategic skills, situational awareness, siege warfare and blight operations, and unit cohesion, to name but a few. These Blightgames are held alongside standard day-to-day training and practices in which Helskorn himself participates, to hone the minds and bodies of the Blightguard, as well as their weapon handling skills. Quotes "Only in true death does my duty end." - Helskorn's motto. "Stand tall, for there is only the Dark Lady, and She is our Shield and Protector." - Helskorn to the Forsaken Inquisitor, Cerriphan d'Galdis. Trivia Helskorn as a character is heavily influenced by multiple medias, most notably including the Adeptus Astartes from the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the Doomslayer from DOOM (2016), although there are plenty of heavy influences from Dark Souls, Berserk, Game of Thrones, God of War, and many other sources, too numerous to name. These influences were carefully measured and blended into the Warcraft lore as to be canonically plausible as possible. External Links Helskorn's Armory Page Category:Royal Apothecary Society Category:Characters Category:Forsaken Category:Horde Warrior Category:Warrior